So here we have a kilted Scot, trying to get home in the snow and dreaming of a steaming bowl of porridge which surely will be set before him as soon as he gets in. Well that`s what this card says to me, anyway.
Now I have to say I love this set, but it is so difficult to reproduce by scanning, the cards always seem to be rather toned (aka grubby) and the wording is so light. But this one seems to have managed to come out not so badly, all except the name of the clan, which is Macleod.
And that actually gives us another link to our theme, because there is a company called Macleod Organics - and guess what, they sell porridge!
The entry for this set in our original John Player reference book, RB.17, published in 1950, reads :
111. HIGHLAND CLANS. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in brown, with descriptive text, Numbered series of 25. Home issue, July 1907, reprinted 1914. There are numerous minor varieties in the series, which was obviously reprinted several times.
The text in the original World Tobacco Issues Index reads only : "HIGHLAND CLANS. Sm. Nd. (25). Various printings".
However there is a slight change in the updated version, which now reads "HIGHLAND CLANS. Sm. Caption in (a) grey (b) red. Nd. (25)". Is this is a hint to the fact that the first printing of 1907 had the grey back, and the reprint was red.
In that case ours will be a reprint.
Is there anyone out there can tell us more?